ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Apple Watch Series 12 adds new health and heart metrics.
- Ceramic finishes return in pearl white and night blue.
- The Series 12 and Ultra 4 keep the same starting prices.
Apple unveiled its Apple Watch Series 12 on Wednesday, alongside a few other showstoppers (see: iPhone Duo). I’ve been covering the Apple Watch for a few years now, and while it’s one of my most-used wearables, it has never been the most exciting one that I wear.
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That’s because it’s often late to features that its competitors developed several years ago. I’ve been getting a sleep and readiness score on my Oura Ring since I tried it out in 2023. Apple debuted sleep scores on the Apple Watch last year. It tends to be late to the game with its smartwatch’s feature offerings.
A few key upgrades coming to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 could fix that. I got to see the new watches for myself at the Steve Jobs Theater after watching Apple unveil this next generation. Here’s what I’m most excited about.
A complete health feature refresh
A new chip, the S11, powers the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and it’s the first time since 2024 that we got a processor upgrade for the wearable. This processor boosts AI capabilities (like a few contentious Audio Intelligence features arriving later this year) and speed and gives the Ultra 4 around eight more hours of battery life.
The Apple Watch leans heavily into heart rate monitoring accuracy on the Series 12 and Ultra 4, and many of these updates will not extend to the Series 11, Ultra 3, or earlier models. Apple says the upgrades make it the most accurate heart rate sensor in a wearable. On top of that, a refined step-tracking algorithm makes the function its most accurate pedometer yet.
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The watch now continuously monitors heart rate every five seconds and delivers new metrics, including a Readiness score, new HRV data, daytime Vitals, a Heart Age, and a few more longitudinal metrics arriving with the new Health app later this year.
The battery life stays the same for the Series 12 as it did for the Series 11, capping off at 24 hours.
Nina Raemont/ZDNETReturn of the ceramic
The Apple Watch Series 12 gets a new finish that we haven’t seen since 2019. There’s a pearl white and night blue ceramic finish that lends a shininess and heft to the device, and it’s a fun callback to the earlier days of the device. That callback will cost you an extra $500, though. The Series 12 comes in the standard colorways (light gold, black, and space gray), and it adds a dark bronze colorway as well.
Same prices, somehow
Despite all the new hardware and software improvements Apple packs into the Series 12 and Ultra 4, the prices of both smartwatches remain the same. That’s great news, considering the rising prices of its other products and the possibility that it would raise the Apple Watch’s price this year.
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Not much new with the Apple Watch Ultra 4
The Ultra 4 gets eight more hours of battery life, the S11 chip, and some more durability through a ceramic display. It also gets all the software updates unveiled on the Series 12, like Siri AI and the new health features mentioned above. Other than that, it’s not a fundamentally new or different Ultra smartwatch.
